We were in the front yard when we
spotted this little guy. Nicolas promptly took him under his wing
and named him Mr. Frog.

Before we knew
it, Nicolas took Mr. Frog to the backyard, set up the 'paddling pool' for him, complete
with water and a rock to sit on.

Of course, he was sad when Mr. Frog
was not there the next day.

Well, he didn't have long to wait for another little creature
to take care of. We saw signs of mice in the house, so we bought some high frequency
gizmos that are supposed to drive mice away. I guess they work cause we saw a few
scatter. I was in the process of catching one with my handy bug net when Nicolas
walked in and caught me catching the mouse. Of course, Nicolas proceeded to find him
a home (bucket) and ran off to get him some cheese and water. We let him stay in the
bucket for a couple of days then let him go outside. Of course we told Nicolas that
Mousy had regained his strength from the fine cheese and turned the bucket over himself to
get out and get on with his life.

Golden Pines, Mike and the Mechanic

Here's our weekend trip to Golden Pines which is a couple of miles north
of Calaveras Big Trees.

We had a really nice time. Natalie wanted to know
what all the long trees were for.

They had a guy singing and playing a guitar on Saturday night. I liked it!

Mike was working on his truck and his little shadow, Natalie, had to help,
too.

Check out her mechanics outfit complete with frog boots.

P.S. That's a painting Miguel did in the background.

Here
are some photos of our Eagle Lake Trip

Natalie, Emily and Nicolas singing for their dinner.

Amanda pulling Pat.

Pat returning
the favor

Patrick and Brian
discover a new way to catch fish...with nets. They actually caught
quite a few. Nicolas wanted to name them, not eat them.

Natalie, Emily and Nicolas hamming it up.

Now they're
jumping over the waves.

I think Chivie
thinks we live here now. We sprayed her with water everytime she
barked unnecessarily at passersby. That cured her!

Patrick finds new and improved ways to
amuse his sister.

This was a photo I took from Antelope
Lookout. We rode our dirt bikes (motorcycles) up to the tippy top to see if we could
see remnants of the fire. There's Eagle Lake in the background.

You can see for miles
up there. Here are the peaks of Lassen and Shasta which my camera
didn't do justice to...actually, the photographer's not so hot (me)

Relaxing by the campfire, watching the bats and waiting patiently for
smores after a long hard day of playing.

The babies always want to help Grandpa walk the dogs, Maggie and Jake.
It doesn't look like poor old Jake is enjoying the pull...er...walk too much.

So many things to do! Now there's a card game in process.

The Villarreal's

Mike's sister Lisa and hubby, George.

Their girls,
Amanda and Emily. Don't look now...I think Amanda is smiling! Being a typical
15, she did not want to be at camp with the family.

And son, Patrick. He's 14.
He still enjoyed camping with the family...we'll see about next year.

Mom (Karen) and her girls, Lisa and Kristin.

WOW...cousin Patrick let Pooshta play with his remote control truck.
Yeahhhaaaa!